


Stuck in the Middle (With You)

by IrisRising



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: F/M, M/M, all of the attempted dynamic with none of the nuance, cheap rip-off of the Grace and Frankie plot, does this count as a fix-it or an AU?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 11:43:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15436311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrisRising/pseuds/IrisRising
Summary: So maybe Naruto finally retired. Maybe they're all close to retirement. Who's to say that things should be settling down with them?





	Stuck in the Middle (With You)

**Author's Note:**

> With apologies towards the creators and writers of Grace and Frankie, who did this much better than I ever can. 
> 
> Author is bad at updating, so apologies in advance to readers as well.

Naruto, Sakura decided, was a bad influence on Hinata altogether.

The thought came to her at some point in their marriage, when Sakura was over for some weekly dinner or other (owing to Naruto’s almost neurotic need to maintain proper regular communication between the old 11) and had choked on a fish bone she had stupidly forgotten to pick out; and Hinata, sweet meek Hinata who barely said three words when they were kids in the Academy, had put her beer down and said “God DAMN Sakura, you alright there?”

The sheer shock was enough to dislodge the fishbone from Sakura’s esophagus.

True, Sakura had to concede that through being married to the sheer volume that was the venerated Seventh, as well as being the mother to those two Konoha demons known as Uzumaki Boruto and Himawari, Hinata at some point or other had to have grown a backbone. And judging from the way Boruto’s face had paled and how he had cowered under the hospital gurney when Hinata had stormed in, her face bulging with the distended chakra nodes from the strength of her Byakugan, Sakura deduced that said backbone was probably stronger than steel. 

Of course, as great as it is that Hinata came into motherhood unfaltering and with conviction, Sakura also had to realize that when they all got together, the doubled boisterousness of the couple meant the doubled speed at which her patience faded, which with the advent of her 50th birthday, grew thinner with each passing day.

But the Harunos raised their daughter into a good person, and a good person tries to not roll her eyes that much at the bullshit around her, even when said bullshit invites her and her husband to dinner that was right after a 36-hour shift at the Konoha Hospital.

Which is how Sakura found herself sitting at a barbeque grill, trying not to sweat off the remainder of her already melting makeup. She looked at her watch and stifled a groan. 7:15. Of course, she would be the only one on time. Nobody else cared about punctuality these days--they probably wouldn’t even be near a clock, those self-absorbed--

“HEY SAKURA!”

Sakura was jolted out of her mounting rant by the now familiar sound of Hinata’s volume. She turned slightly to catch Hinata, ever present in those khaki mom shorts, slide into the booth across from her. “You look terrible, dear,” Hinata said in lieu of a greeting, pouring herself a cup of sake that Sakura had ordered more for herself than out of thoughtfulness. “Does the hospital treat their Head that badly?”

Sakura sighed. “Technically, I am the hospital, so I would be treating everyone badly. But no, just a long shift.”

“I swear, you have got to retire someday” Hinata knocked the sake back and poured herself another cup. “Then you can do stuff you actually like. You see me? I just finished planting new hydrangeas.”

“I do like the hospital, Hinata. And also, you’ve been retired since you were 20.”

“You’re saying that raising Boruto wasn’t a full-time job?”

“Alright, you got me.”

An amicable silence fell between them then, broken only by an occasional murmur of thanks when platters of meat arrived. Hinata was flipping over a piece of brisket when she suddenly froze, tongs comically hovering in the air. “Well, well” she said at a space over Sakura’s head. “Will you look who it is.”

Sakura twisted around to peer over her booth at the newcomer. “Holy shit. The hermit emerges from his cave. Hey Sasuke-kun.”

Sasuke slid into the booth next to Sakura and grunted a greeting in his usual style. “Naruto should be coming shortly,” he mumbled down at his plate, nodding his thanks at Sakura pouring a cup of sake for him.

“Wow, I guess this is really a big deal if even Sasuke is going to show up” Hinata mock-whispered to Sakura.

“What? You don’t know why we’re here?” Sakura real-whispered back.

“Oh no, I thought you did. Naruto just sent me an email that said ‘6:30, Choji’s place. Look for Sakura.’”

“Oh my God, Naruto. He sent ME an email that said ‘7, Choji’s place, ask for a table for four.’”

Hinata let out a bark of laughter at that, that Sakura couldn’t help but join in at how well Naruto knew them both.

“Oh man, what are you two laughing about?”

Naruto squeezed in between two tables, ignoring the sudden hush that fell through the restaurant at the presence of the Seventh. He slid in the booth next to Hinata and affectionately gave his wife a squeeze. “Hey, Sakura-chan, Sasuke.”

“We were just talking about how you all brought us here for a surprise, dear.” Hinata laid her head on his shoulder. “By the way, what IS the occasion?”

“Probably your retirement party,” Sakura said nonchalantly through a mouthful of pork belly.

“Nah, we’ve been through that. By the way, Sakura, I think you still owe us a new patio door.”

“I don’t owe you anything. You shouldn’t have made Kiba challenge me to arm wrestling.”

“Still worth it.”

“Guys.” Naruto interrupted the banter with a nervous chuckle. “No, no, it’s not my retirement, heh.” He fidgeted with his chopsticks. “I, um, actually have an announcement to make.”

Everyone glanced over expectantly, except for Sasuke, who sighed into his sake.

Naruto looked around the table, still nervously rubbing his chopsticks together. “Well, as you know, I’ve recently retired--”

“Yeah, and finally gave poor Konohamaru the hat before he died!” said Hinata, raising her hand up to Sakura, who sighed and gave it a half-hearted high-five of validation.

Naruto continued despite the interruption. “Uh, yeah, so uh, now that I’ve closed this particular chapter in the, uh, overall book of my life” (his chopsticks were starting to slightly smoke from the friction of his rubbing), “I’m really excited to see what new things and experiences wait for me in this, er, new chapter of life--”

“Oh my God, Naruto,” Sakura interrupted, feeling her patience fray with each consecutive “ums,” “by the time you’re done with this speech, this ‘new chapter of your life’ is going to end.”

Sasuke elbowed her. “I’ll go ahead and say this then since this idiot can’t even make a proper announcement.”

“Sasuke, wait--”

Sasuke, for the first time this evening, peeled his eyes off his bowl of rice and looked right at Hinata. “Hinata, Naruto is leaving you.”

And Hinata, for the first time in years of her marriage and years of motherhood, was at a loss for words. Sakura’s hands flew up to her mouth to stifle a gasp.

“And Sakura,” Sasuke continued, turning towards her, “I’m leaving you as well.”

Sakura’s gasp died in her throat.

Sasuke’s words flew over the table in shocked silence. Hinata and Sakura stared at Sasuke and Naruto alternatively, their mouths hanging open in a fashion that would have been comical if they weren’t so horrified.

“Uh, you two…” Naruto’s tone was pleading. “Say something, anything, please?”

“What do you want us to say?” Hinata said quietly. “‘Congratulations?’ ‘Thank you?’”

“Just...I know it’s sudden,” Naruto spread his hands out on the table. “But none of us are getting any younger, and we can’t waste--”

“Who is it.” Sakura cut Naruto off, her eyes boring into Sasuke. Her chopsticks were starting to bend a little under her grip. “Who have you been seeing behind my back.” Her words fell flat, a dangerous monotone. Sasuke bent his head towards the table, allowing his bangs to obscure his face, away from her glare. “I SWEAR TO GOD, UCHIHA--”

“Sakura-chan, stop! It’s me, alright?” Naruto interjected, his hand (his real hand, Sakura noticed) reaching over the table to grasp Sasuke’s. “We’ve been seeing each other, okay? I love Sasuke, and Sasuke loves me. We’re in love, and now that I’m retired, we thought this was the best time to finally tell everyone--”

“Oh, now? Now is the best time?” Sakura’s voice broke into a shrill shriek of disbelief. “What, you couldn’t have bothered to tell us this, oh, I don’t know, maybe BEFORE we’ve been married for 30 YEARS? Or, genius idea, maybe BEFORE we started making our GODDAMNED RETIREMENT PLANS TOGETHER?”

“I was the HOKAGE back then!” Naruto gritted his teeth to keep from roaring back. “How do you think everyone would take it if their Hokage suddenly absconded with his--”

“Oh. My. God.” Hinata’s shocked voice cut through their rising volume. “This is what this is, isn’t it? The whole surprise dinner. YOU brought us out here to make the announcement, Naruto.” Naruto flinched at Hinata calling him solely by his name for the first time. “YOU brought us to a public place to drop this on us because YOU thought we wouldn’t dare make a scene at Choji’s place.” Veins started popping out of Hinata’s temples as her Byakugan bloomed in her fury. “And then what? You thought we could just have dinner and go home and pretend that this was nothing?”

There was a dull crack as the metal chopsticks snapped under Sakura’s grip. “You actual sacks of shit” she hissed, as the pieces of chopsticks clattered onto the table and echoed in the silent restaurant as the entire establishment stared at them. “You absolute manipulative, sanctimonious pieces of--”

“Enough” Sasuke snapped, standing up. “Sakura, that’s enou--” his words died in a choke as Sakura’s hand shot out and clenched his shoulder and jerked him back down into his seat. 

“No, Uchiha, you sit your ass back down.” The entire restaurant flinched as Sasuke’s bones creaked in protest of his wife’s unnatural strength. “You DO NOT get to be the one that walks away from this. You DO NOT get to run away again.” Sasuke stilled at that. “In fact, neither of you get to be the ones in control of this situation.” Hinata nodded in agreement. “We deserve a full explanation for this, and none of us are going anywhere until we get it.”

“Uh, Sakura-chan--” 

“Shut UP, Uzumaki.”

“No, really, Sakura-chan,” Naruto sheepishly gestured somewhere behind Sakura’s head. “I think we should wrap this up”

Sakura turned around. “Why,” she started to scoff, “are we really that embarrassing--” her words ended with a squeak at the sight of Choji charging out of the kitchen, his raised fist expanding in his rage as he headed straight for their table.

 

\---

 

“Well, that WAS embarrassing,” Sakura muttered to herself, distractedly rubbing at the new spice paste stain on the front of her dress.

Sasuke awkwardly stood up from the foyer, kicking his shoes off to the side. His eyes met Sakura’s for the first time since the long silent walk home after Choji bodily threw them out of his restaurant. They widened, and Sakura caught in them a hint of surprise, and a heavier dose of guilt, before Sasuke hurriedly turned away and started tottering up the stairs to his study. 

Rage erupted inside Sakura.  _ Are you fucking kidding me, Uchiha _ , she wanted to shout.  _ We’re not done here. _ She briefly considered running up after him, grabbing him around the waist, and suplexing him back down the stairs. 

But before she can push aside her inhibitions at the thought of mariticide, the rage faded just as quickly as it came, leaving her feeling hollow, foolish, and, most of all,  _ exhausted _ . She staggered up the stairs, into her bedroom, and collapsed in front of her desk, staring forlornly into her mirror. Her mascara had had mostly melted from the combined heat of her running around in the hospital, the barbeque, and the ensuing argument, and had settled in dark rings under her eyes, right into the creases of her growing eyebags she so hated, making her look twice as old as she really was. Sakura pulled out a makeup wipe and furiously scrubbed at the last vestiges of her makeup, fighting back the stinging in her eyes. 

“God...fucking...dammit.” she mumbled into the wipe, pausing to properly bury her face in her hands. 

The worst part, she was loath to admit, was the feeling of abject helplessness that was quickly descending on her, the feeling she was most afraid of, the feeling she promised herself time and time again that she wouldn’t let herself fall into.  _ No more _ , she had told herself, back when she was 12 and the back of her neck itched from the newly shorn strands of her hair.  _ This self-pity won’t help anyone _ , she had told her 16-year-old self as she rubbed the section of the throat Sasuke had grasped, remembering how her own poisoned kunai flashed in his hand as he prepared to strike a lethal blow. 

_ No _ . She raised her head and looked into her own red-rimmed eyes in the mirror.  _ Look forward, not back _ . She wiped off the rest of her mascara, two quick final swipes at her eyes, before tossing the wipe away haphazardly, not even noticing that it fell perfectly into her garbage can five feet away. She glared into the mirror, as if hoping the reflection would come alive, shout at her for being so stupid, reach through and grab her, anything to make her not have to face tomorrow. Instead, her tired face stared back at her, eyes gleaming from tears she couldn't even muster up the energy to let fall.

“Who am I kidding?” She sighed at her reflection, massaging her temples. “What now?”

“Um…” 

Sakura jumped as she suddenly noticed Sasuke in the corner of her mirror, uncomfortably shifting from one foot to another like a guilty child. “I did knock,” he offered apologetically. 

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, then shrugged and pulled out a brush. “Okay then.” She started brushing her hair with slightly more force than she normally did.

She heard Sasuke take a deep breath. “Sakura, can I talk to you for a second please.” 

She harrumphed in response.”I don’t know, Sasuke. Not talking seems to be more of your forte,” she replied to the reflection.

“Well,” said the reflection, shrugging sheepishly, “I’m talking now...and I just wanted to say I’m sorry.” He took a step closer towards her. “I just never thought you would be this upset.”

A jolt ran through Sakura. She put her hairbrush down and twisted around in her seat to make full eye contact with Sasuke. “What did you’d think I’d be then?” She demanded, glaring at him.

Sasuke looked straight on back. “I honestly thought you’d be relieved, after all this time,” he says, with no hesitation in his answer. 

At this, Sakura couldn’t help the scoff. “Relief, really?!” Sakura answered incredulously. “You thought I’d be relieved? I think you’re projecting, Uchiha, because what I’m feeling is that the last 20 years of my life is a fraud.”

At this, Sasuke sighs. “I probably should have said something earlier on,” he admitted. “But really now, did you think we were happy? Especially later on?”

Sakura opened her mouth to protest, and found that she couldn’t bring herself to say the “YES!” she wanted to snap back, realizing that by doing so, she would be lying to both of them. Instead, she closed her mouth and lowered her gaze, down to the floor. “I was happy enough,” she admitted after a while, eyes still focused on the floor. “I mean, I knew we weren’t exactly a fairytale ending, but we had Sarada. And I had my job, and you had yours. I thought this was normal.” She looked at her hands, and thought of Sarada, as a swaddled baby; of Sasuke, barely 18, bleeding out and nearly-dead on the destroyed statue of the First; of every child she held, newly brought into the world, and of every shinobi in her care, taking their last breaths. “I thought this was life.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sasuke also lower his head, and she knew, deep down, he also wanted to agree. “And I thought there was more,” he said instead, turning away from her and shuffling towards the door.

“You know,” Sakura called after him, each word leaving a bitter, petty taste in her mouth, “This would have been so much easier on all of us if you had just never come back.”

Sasuke froze. He looked over his shoulder to give Sakura a look with his good eye, and Sakura hated how she could see the shock and hurt in it. But before she could apologize, he brusquely turned back around and closed the door, leaving the words hanging in the air, dripping with Sakura’s guilt.

 

\---

 

Back at his desk, Sasuke took off his glasses to rub at his eyes, ignoring the lump in his throat. “Fuck,” he muttered at his computer, “I hope Naruto is handling this better than I am.”

 

\---

 

But Naruto, of course, had to stop by the Hokage Tower on his way home (one last time, he tried to reason with himself, to make sure nobody will accidentally assassinate Konohamaru), so he returned an hour later, expecting a silent house and a night spent on the porch. Instead, he found the front door slightly ajar and all the lights completely extinguished.  _ Oh boy,  _ he thought, stepping through the threshold.

 

“Hinata?” he called out cautiously, trying not to fall over while removing his shoes. “You in there?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, giving a small groan of protest when the screen temporarily blinded him in the darkness. “Hinata, are you alright?” His foot found the doorway to their kitchen and he stumbled in, trying to find the flashlight function on his phone. 

“Hinata, what are you--OH MY GOD!”

The flashlight turned on, illuminating Hinata’s form sitting at the kitchen table in front of him, staring straight ahead despite peeling an apple. Her Byakugan was trained right on him, the light reflecting off of the web-pattern of veins snaking across her face. Naruto felt a cold sweat break on the back of his neck: even after 30 years of being a part of the Hyuga clan, he had to admit that he still felt unnerved whenever he was in the direct gaze of the Byakugan.   

“Jesus, Hinata.” Naruto blinked rapidly, and fumbled around for the switch, flicking the kitchen lights on. “Why are you sitting in the dark like that? I thought you were a ghost.”

Hinata didn’t reply. She continued peeling the apple, slowly and methodically, leaving a single trail of peel falling on the table. The only indication that she even acknowledged Naruto’s presence was the slight narrowing of her eyes as she continued to stare him down.

Naruto ran his hand through his hair, internally sighing at the short hitch it now took for his fake hand to respond to him. Sakura had told him it was probably just the fact that the Hashirama cells age more slowly than he did, and Naruto supposed it would make sense that his arm would outlive him. Still, it put him off that he essentially has a perpetual timer attached to him, to remind him that he, one day, would have to leave all this behind.

The sound of Hinata viciously spearing the peeled apple with the paring knife snapped Naruto out of his minor existential crisis. He sighed and sank down slowly in the chair across from her. “Hinata, how long have you been sitting here?” he asked.

Hinata’s eyes flicked to the ceiling in a quick eye roll. “Long enough to watch you go tuck Konohamaru into bed first,” she said irritably, biting into the apple.

Naruto groaned. “Hinata, look, I’m sorry! I just didn’t know how to handle it.”

“Well, good job on picking the worst way imaginable,” Hinata snapped, using the tone she normally reserved for Boruto when he got caught sneaking off to drink again. 

“Some things, there are just no good ways to do!” Naruto leaned forward. “How do you go about telling the woman you’ve loved for 30 years that I can’t be with her if I want to be happy?”

“You don’t!” Hinata put the apple down with a noticeably wet  _ clunk _ . “Or, you do it before you stay with her for 30 years! I don’t know if you ever knew this, but we’re not exactly young anymore.” She stood up and stomped off, but stopped at the kitchen doorway and turned back to Naruto, a look of realization and horror spreading through her face. “Oh my God, is that why been taking so many stamina pills?”

Naruto looked up at the ceiling in exasperation. “I’m an active ninja, Hinata! Everyone takes stamina pills at this age! Kakashi-sensei started popping them at 40!”

Hinata’s face mollified at that, but her eyes quickly clouded again and she looked off to the side. “I think..” she said, her tone quiet, “I think you should start sleeping in the office again.” She closed the kitchen door behind her, and Naruto could hear her going up the stairs. He slumped back into the chair, rubbing his face in his hands.  _ We’re not exactly young anymore, _ Hinata had said. He chuckled darkly to himself.  _ Oh to be 20 and stupid again _ , he thought, feeling his back crick against the wood the straight-backed chair.  _ This all would be so much easier to do.  _

He sighed and reached across the table for the rest of the apple. _W_ _ ell, at least I’m used to sleeping in the office, _ he thought as he slowly clambered up the stairs, gnawing on the apple. 

\---

Naruto had only just settled down in the pull-out, resigned to mindlessly clicking through dog videos on his laptop, when he heard the door open slowly. He turned his head slightly to see Hinata standing in the doorway in her pajamas, her hair sticking up on one side and a broken expression on her face. 

“I can’t do it,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t remember the last time we went to bed mad at each other. I know we’ve done it, but I can’t... I can’t remember.”

A dull pang shot through Naruto’s chest. He managed a small, sad smile at Hinata, and shifted to one side of the pull-out, patting the space next to him. “Come here.”

She returned the sad smile and shuffled over to the pull-out, gingerly lying down, facing away from him. Naruto shut off his laptop and set it aside to lie down next to Hinata, spooning her, gently rubbing her back. Neither of them spoke, both acknowledging the fact that the situation was _fucked_ in any case;  and, even if they both didn’t want to admit, it, that this might be one of the last times they’ll sleep together in the same bed. 

Naruto finally broke the silence, hating the way his wife curled into a protective ball, hugging her sides as if to protect her heart from further damage. “I really am sorry, Hinata,” he said into the darkness softly. “I hate that I hurt you. I really do love you, you know.” He drew his knees up to nestle them behind Hinata’s. “I mean, you’ve always loved me for…”

“...who you are,” Hinata finished. She gave a sad chuckle, the motion sending vibrations to Naruto’s chest. He felt her arm move, her fingers dabbing at her eyes. “Ironic, isn’t it now?” she sniffled. 

Naruto found he couldn’t answer that. Instead, he reached over Hinata and grabbed the back of her hand, pulling her further into his embrace and rocking her as she finally starting crying.

 

\---

 

It was only much later when Hinata’s quiet sobs softened into sniffles and the occasional hiccup, did Naruto hear her whisper, “I guess if the kids are coming over for lunch tomorrow, then it’s as good as a time than any to tell them about today.” 

Naruto gave her a reassuring squeeze. “I think you’re right.”


End file.
